WayneB
Elite Member
gotrocks said:Good morning TBN'ers,
Please let me have your thoughts and comments regarding a situation that bothers me.
The land that borders our 20 A is being developed of PRD (Planned Residential Development)
The bulldozers have cut a "bluff" along the back side of us that is 30 feet down with a slope that a mountain goat would love. It drops 3 feet in 4 feet. Not quite a 45 degree slope.
What would you do - say - request - from the developer and or the city goverment that approves this and inspects before accepting the finished subdivision?
Some of my concerns are,
1. if someone is walking along our line and slips that will be quite a tumble?
2. As time passes if erosion takes place will the "new" neighbors expect us
to take care of the "run off" from our property?
Or even worse if the hill side slides down and does damage to others.
Thanks for reading, now what say you?
Not sure how your town handles developments, but around here one must get approval by the planning board. If there are any variances needed then the developer must go to the Zoning Board for approvals.
As an abutter were you involved in any of the planning board meetings? Here we must notify all abutters of meetings for either the planning or zoning boards.
Any large development has to abide by the setbacks to abutting properties. We have a set back for multi house developments of 100 feet. Any roadways being established also have the 100 foot setback and must provide for emergency vehicle ingress and egress with means of turning around.
Any graded slop pitch cannot exceed 15 degrees so depending upon how your zoning and building regulations are written you might have a chance to appeal the actions to the boards and get a stop work order until the grade is corrected or accepted by the planning board.
PRD's and cluster housing has become the big thing here! Developers are jumping on this as a way to put as many homes in an area as possible giving them the highest return on investment. Our regulation will only permit an x-number of homes and each home will require 2 1/2 acres set aside that cannot be built on. The idea is to provide open spaces and maintain the rural appeal of the area.
It just doesn't seem possible that this took place all of a sudden and they started bulldozing the property without the abutters having knowledge of the work that is about to happen.
I suggest you obtain copies of the planning board meetings, regulations and any variances that the developer may have gotten from your zoning board. Ask questions about setbacks and grade slops. Find out what the rest of the neighbors think and start talking to your town council regarding your concerns.
As for the erosion I would think that the developer has to do what is required to prevent run off damage and erosion. This should require a bond be posted with the town and the funds only returned once the project is completed and meets the final inspection of your towns building engineer.
